ブシュカンは「仏様の手の柑橘」という意味です。花は花被が４～８裂、雄しべがたくさん。果実は黄色に熟し、手指のように深く裂けます。
The Japanese name Buddha’s Hand means “citrus like a Buddha’s hand”. The flower has 4-8 lobes and many stamens. The fruit ripens yellow and has deep lobes like fingers.
【仮名】ブシュカン, ブッシュカン
【和名】仏手柑
【英名】Buddha’s Hand, Fingered Citron
【学名】Citrus medica ‘Sarcodactylis’
【誕生】04/ 17
【開花】04, 05, 06月
【花色】White
ブシュカン
ブシュカンの概要
ブシュカンはミカン科の常緑低木です。原産地はインドのガンジス川上流。枝に短く硬い棘があります。葉は卵形で互生。縁に細かい鋸歯があります。花は桃色の蕾が膨らみ、白色の花被が４～８裂、黄色の葯、雄しべがたくさん。果実は黄色に熟し、先が手指のように深く裂けます。
ブシュカンの名前
ブシュカンの和名は「仏様の手の柑橘」という意味で、果実の形状に由来します。英名も「仏陀の手」「手指の柑橘」という意味。ラテン語の属名シトラスはアフリカ由来の「シトロンの木」、種小名メディカは「薬用」、品種名サルコダクティリスは「肉質で指状」という意味です。
ブシュカンの近縁
ブシュカンの原種「シトロン」は果実が紡錘形で果肉もあり、「丸仏手柑」とも呼ばれます。むしろ形状は遠縁の「檸檬」に似ていて、さながら「果実が大きく、香りが強い檸檬」といったところ。中国名「枸櫞」はクエン酸の語源でもあり、仏手柑と同じくらい強い酸味があります。
ブシュカンの利用
ブシュカンの果実は果肉がなく、黄色の果皮と白色の内皮が食べられます。皮は適当な大きさに切り、茹でこぼして冷水に浸すなどして渋味と苦味を和らげ、砂糖漬けやマーマレードなどに加工。皮を乾かした「枸櫞皮」、その精油「枸櫞油」が料理の着香や矯味などに用いられます。
Buddha’s Hand
Buddha’s Hand is an evergreen shrub of the Rutaceae family. It is native to the upper reaches of the Ganges River in India. The branches have short, hard thorns. The leaves are oval, have fine sawtooth edges, and grow alternately. The flowers have swollen pink buds, and the white perianth opens with 4-8 lobes, yellow anthers, and many stamens. The fruit ripens yellow and has deep lobes like fingers.
The Japanese name Buddha’s Hand means “citrus like a Buddha’s hand”, and is derived from the shape of the fruit. It has almost the same meaning as the English name. The Latin genus name Citrus means “citron tree” originating from Africa, the specific name medica means “medicinal”, and the cultivar name Sarcodactylis means “fleshy and finger-like”.
The original species of Buddha’s Hand, “Citron”, has spindle-shaped fruit with flesh, and is also called “round Buddha’s Hand”. Rather, its shape is similar to that of the distantly related “Lemon”, and it is like a “large-fruited lemon with a strong fragrance”. The Chinese name is also the origin of the word citric acid, and it has a strong sour taste like Buddha’s Hand.
The fruit of Buddha’s Hand has no flesh, and the yellow skin and white inner skin are edible. The skin is cut to an appropriate size, boiled, drained, and soaked in cold water to reduce the astringency and bitterness, and is processed into candied fruit or marmalade. The dried skin and its essential oil are used for flavoring and masking the taste of food.
